Abhorsen Erigina
by iamsusan
Summary: She created the paperwing yes,But who was she truly? Why was she the last of her line? This is the life of Abhosen Erigena. My first old kingdom fic,plz R
1. Chapter 1

PROLOGUE

In years to come She will be remembered as the creator of the Paperwing. The weather witch who never loved and was the last of her line. They will remember a few trifling details about her but I doubt they will even remember her name.

They will remember her wrongly.

I, Torrita, record here the events of my cousin Erigina's life. Her hurts, her joys. Those whom she loved and those who betrayed her.

I will move beyond the Ninth Gate soon enough. I feel it in my bones. By leaving this behind me, I hope that we will be remembered. Two girls growing up together, cousins, sisters, friends.

She will not be forgotten.


	2. Coming Home

Abhorsen Erigena

The Free Magic thing loomed up before the woman scrabbling in the dirt, a choking black smoke pouring from the sword wound it had just received. It advanced on her, the metal stench corrupting her nose and blacking out her mind. Frantically she searched for the hilt of the sword she had dropped behind her.

'You are miiiine now, Abhorrrsen" the voice rasped "I ssshhhall feeed on you, flessshhh and spirit and you will seeeerve meee" The woman's hand landed on something cold and hard-the sword! A final desperate swipe from the spelled sword her ancestors had used to banish others of this creature's kind pushed the Thing back-long enough to pull one of her bells free

"Leave this place, creature of Death! Make haste to the ninth Gate! Your time is gone!" She complemented the shout with the duel tones of Saraneth and Kibeth, sealing the creature's fate. It howled and gnashed the hook shaped teeth that protruded from its mouth, but Abhorsens power could not be fought. It vanished, leaving only a patch of burnt trees behind it.

The woman stood up and looked around. Murmuring the words that accompanied the marks of healing she noted the destruction the thing had unleashed on the clearing. Replacing her sword and bells, she jumped when a voice sprang up.

"Well that was exceedingly over dramatic"

"Anytime you want to take over Mogget. I'm sure you'd do wonderfully well at banishing the dead with only a word"

"A simple 'the ninth gate awaits' did your father well enough" a small cat sauntered out from behind a tree.

"I am not my father" she said simply, but danger crept into her voice.

"Blood will out" Mogget jumped onto the horse she was attempting to saddle "You've held this office three months. You may become him yet."

"How long will it take to reach the house?" She queried. "I can't wait for a bath and a proper meal"

"I'd say about three hours. But you're changing the subject. Back to your father…" The woman turned on him, eyes sparking.

"You will leave this conversation alone right now or when we get back to the house I shall personally rework your binding spell to imprison you as a mouse. Understand?"

A somewhat muffled "Yes Abhorsen" was the reply and with that the fortieth Abhorsen of the Old Kingdom, a twenty two year old woman known as Erigena mounted her horse and headed for home.

The young woman ran through the halls of the house, muttering charter spells under her breath. As she sketched the marks in front of her, the cold halls were bathed in a warm glow and the house began to breathe again.

The House always changed when the Abhorsen was there. The presence of the houses owner made it a home. Torrita shook her head. Her cousin's generosity in allowing her to live there was all very well, but the sendings ignored her and the house itself was unwelcoming when Eri wasn't there.

Best friends since childhood, Torrita felt Erigena's absence almost as keenly as the house. Since Eri had assumed the office of Abhorsen three months prior she had barely seen her cousin. The death of Eri's father had changed more than Torrita could ever have imagined.

Gone was their Nomadic lifestyle. They could no longer live as they pleased without any thought of the consequences. They had put there wanderings of four years behind them and returned to their childhood home. An orphan, her Uncle Ekan, Eri's father and thirty-ninth Abhorsen of the Old Kingdom had taken her in and raised her on the island with Eri.

Torrita had disliked her uncle but it had been nothing to the burning hatred Eri had borne him. She smiled at the irony of it. The two had been so alike. Both dedicated to their task of keeping the dead, dead, both with the passionate fury that made them so good at it. They looked alike too, two pairs of piercing green eyes reflected in each other. The last time those eyes had locked, both had flashed and sparked with anger, eighteen years of tension between them boiling over. She and Eri had left the house the next morning, leaving the only sanctuary or home either had ever known.

Both had cried when they left, silently, blue and green welling up and spilling over. Trying to pretend they were not. Trying both, to be strong. Neither wanted to admit their weakness to the other.

They had not looked back.

Torrita shook her head. This was not the time to dwell on old family feuds. Her cousin would be back soon and they would be enjoying the comfortable companionship they had had before her uncle's death

She entered the great hall now, the stained glass windows painting her face a myriad of vibrant hues. Torrita glanced at the large window. Eri would be home soon.

Erigena had been riding for three hours steadily. Her thighs ached and Moggets sarcastic comments weren't helping her out. She was eager to get to the house and see her best friend and cousin, Torrita, whom she hadn't seen in a month-her longest absence since assuming the post.

She rounded the bend which hid the waterfall from sight, and paused to marvel at the sheer beauty of the house. A large Island in the middle of the fast flowing river, placed just where it took a dive over the waterfall. Today's sun had wreathed it in a rainbow.

Eri looked on at her home. She had lived there since childhood, but only since she had become Abhosen had the beauty of the place stopped her dead in her tracks.

She spurred her horse on. The animal set off again, setting a pace fast enough to be uncomfortable, but to slow to be considered fast. Eri sighed. If only there was some other way of travelling. If only she could fly to and from her assignments, like the birds that inhabited the Island.

To able to go over mountains, not around them. To travel with the wind, not an animal carrying you. To be able to enjoy such freedom as she never would on land.

As she drew closer to the stepping stones that were the only access to the Island, Mogget seemed to wake up.

"Oh good nearly home. I need a good meal of fish and a warm place to sleep. This rucksack keeps moving around. I don't suppose you can ride any faster can you? No of course not…" Eri rolled her eyes. The little cat's complaining did admittedly break the silence, and make her feel much more comfortable, but it was annoying.

The first thing she heard as she finally stepped back onto the island was a shriek. Within seconds she was wrapped into a rib crushing hug, her brown hair mingling on her shoulders with the blond curls of her cousin.

"Torri" she choked out "It's good to see you! How's the house been?"

"Its usual self. Without an Abhorsen it's dull and boring. I've had to eat in the kitchen." Torri was too excited to complain too much. "How did it go?"

"The Necromancer has gone on. But I was attacked on the way back by one of the greater dead. That too went beyond the ninth gate"

"With an excessive amount of drama" Mogget leapt lightly from her bag."Now If you'll excuse me I haven't eaten in a week."

"He doesn't change does he? I would hate to take him out on any kind of trip, let alone to fight the dead"

"He has his uses"

"Anyway I expect you want a bath and a change of clothes. I'll wait for you in the dining room. " She began to walk off, but stopped and turned. "Going back and forth so constantly. Meeting the dead. It must be hard. I really have no idea how you do it"

It was not until they had gone their separate ways that Eri finally murmured "Neither do I cousin. Neither do I"


End file.
